Method of laying bitumen pavements



March 11, 1930. J. G. TULLIS 1,750,443 f METHOD OF LAYING BITUMEN PAVEMENTS Filed June 14, 1928 mi Illumina!" lmm. crs.

Patented Mar. 11, 1930 UNITED *STATES PATENT oFFlcE JASPER G. TULLIS, OF CLEVELANI), OHIO, ASSIGNOR, BY MSNE ASSIGNMENTS., TO THE JAEGER MACHINE COMPANY, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO METHOD OF LAYING BITUMEN PAVEMENTS Application filed June 14,

asphaltic, pavement or other pavementl made of mixtures of materials suitable for making pavements in which bitumen or bitumenous material is a constituent element.

The accompanying drawings show the essential parts of an apparatus which may be the method.

employed for carryingI out the hereinafter described method., in which drawings Figure 1 is a front elevation of the essential elements of an apparatus forI carrying out Figure 2 is a perspective view showing parts of the apparatus.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of a portlon of the apparatus.

and supply pipe arrangement.

vHeretofore in laying asphaltic pavement it lhas been the practice to convey the asphaltic material for either base 'or tolp` course in a,heated condition to the place w Aere thev pavement was to be laid, and then to spread the material while still hot upon the roadwa`y suitably prepared as to grade, etc., by means of manual labor, that is to say, men using shovels and rakes and thereafter to roll the asphaltic pavement by means of a power roller.

In the method which is herein described, the objections which have heretofore obtained with respect to the laying of asphaltic roads and their characteristics, after they have been laid, are practically overcome.

In proceeding with the present method, the roadway upon which the pavement is to be built is suitably prepared by methods which are at present well known, and includes the erection at the limiting sides of the pavement, of upstanding forms, between whichv the asphaltic material is to be laid. These forms will also serve as tracks upon which may travel the finishing machine or apparatus by which the actualmethod is ianlly carried out.

The asphaltic material in its heated condition is conveyed to the proper place upon Figure 4 is an elevation showing a vburner 1928. Serial No. 285,232.

the roadway and dumped between the side rails on the road.

A preliminary distributing f the asphaltic material is eiected by means of men-with shovels, and this preliminary distribution is followed immediately, and while the asphaltic material is still hot, by reciprocating transversely of the pavement and completely 'across the same a member which is positively heated in" a controlled manner at the portion thereof which is in contact with the asphaltic material, the member reciprocated being arranged so as to exert a compressing action upon the asphaltic material.

lates, wavy surfaces which, where it obtains, must'be rolled out by multiplicity oi' rollings, as far as it is possible, to remove the wavy eect.

The member which is reciprocated transversely of the pavement is also advanced in a lineal direction, the same in which-the pave* ment is being laid, so that the efective action upon the asphaltic material may be described as a simultaneous transverse and forward action, simultaneously compressing the material upon which the member is working and resulting in a sort of ironing action upon the asphalic material.

Heat is applied to the movable member which has just been described and applied in such a manner as to give the desired heating ,effects throughout the length of the member.

. The asphaltic material is in a highly heated condition when it is dumped upon the roadway and this reciprocating member operating upon the asphaltic material which, as

the member moves forward, more or less piles up against the forward face of the member, will impart a certain amount of heat to the member, but this heat thus imparted is not equally distributed throughout the length of the member, and furthermore, those portions of the asphaltic material which are toward the sides of the pavement which is being'laid will be subject to greater radiation than the material which is toward the center of the pavement, hence it is desirable to apply heat, in a positive manner, to that portion of the reciprocating member which is in contact with the asphaltic material and which is ac* complishing the ironing action. This heat is applied in a controlled manner, that is to say, heating means are applied at various parts of the aforesaid reciprocating member so as to' permit the application of greater amounts of heat to certain parts of the reciprocating member than to others, and the heat effect which is obtained is to provide an equalized heating of the asphaltic material which is worked upon by the underside of the re- 'ciprocating member throughout the transverse area of the pavement upon which the aforesaid member is working, thereby obtaining the proper surface sealing as will be later described.

By the method described the laying of asphaltic pavement is not only greatly facilitated, but the speed with which the asphaltic pavement may be laid is greatly increased over that which can be effected by the methods which have heretofore been employed.

The member which is used, as above described, extends entirely across the pavement to be laid and rides upon the tracks at the sides of the pavement. The under side of the member is broad and flat and maintained in a tilted or inclined position with the result that this member as it is reciprocated and advances, compresses the material in place. Furthermore, the surface of the asphaltic material after it has been acted upon by the reciprocating member as described, is a smooth and even surface throughout the entire'width and extent of the pavement, and due to the compacting and heated action of the reciprocating member, the surface of the road is in a condition which may be described as initially sealed, in that the particles of the asphaltic material are so compacted and ironed as to minimize rough spots or opportunity for Water, resulting from rain or snow, to find its Way into cracks or interstices in the pavement, which, upon subsequent freezing would cause a disintegration of the surface of the pavement.

It Will be desirable to employ a roller upon the pavement, after it has been laid bythe method which has before been described, the subsequent rolling operation being merely for the purpose of further"`compacting the material by means of moving a sufficient Weight over the surface.

Obviously the reciprocating screed member may be provided with means whereby the desired crown may be given to the road.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown sufficient parts of an apparatus by which the method herein described may be carried out.

A reciprocating member is generally represented at 1. This member extends transversely the entire width of the pavement, and in its operating movements rests upon the side track -members 2. The member is mounted upon and carried by a suitable moving carriage, the framework of which is generally represented at 3, and same being mounted upon wheels 11 that move along the tracks 2. vVhile only two of such wheels are shown it will be understood that four wheels or more may be employed. The mem ber l in the present instance is made up of a vertically extending part 5, which is made to assume a channel shaped form, as indicated at 6 in Figure 2. Extending longitudinally with respect to the part 5 of the screed is the bottom member 7, which is a wide platelike member and extends in front of the part 5, having a portion which is formed with a nose, as indicated at 8 and also having a flange or upstanding portion 9 which extends in contact with the member 5.

The member 7 has secured thereto brackets 10, these brackets being provided with slots 11 which cooperate with complementary slots formed in the member 5 and slots 9 formed in the member 9, bolts with nuts thereon extending through the cooperating slots. The foregoing forms the means by which the melnber 7 is attached to and carried by the member 5.

lCooperating with each bracket 10 is a bolt 12 which extends through a suitable hole or opening in the channel shaped portion 6, and upon the extended threaded end of each member 12 is a nut 13.

By loosening the nuts and bolts in eac-h oi' the slots 11 and suitably adjusting the nutsl 13 upon the bolts 12, it is possible .to place the member 7 in a flexed or calnbered condition corresponding to the crown which it is desired to put on the finished pavement. After the position of the bolts 12 has been effected, in order to give the desired camber to the member 7, then the nuts and bolts which cooperate with the slots 11 are tightened, thus holding the member 7 in its finally adjusted position.

The screed member is preferably attached to the movable carriage member by means of adjustable members 14 and 15. These members 14 and 15 comprise the threaded member 16 which is pivotally attached to the member 1, and the threaded member 17 which is pivotally attached to a portion of the frame of the carriage and the threaded ends cooperate with a turn-buckle 18, the turning of which will obviously increase or decrease the Maaate distance between the ends of the members 16 and 17.

rThe other member 15 is constructed in exactly the same way, and it is attached to the member 1 at a lower point than that at which the upper member 16 is attached. It should be stated that the members 14 and 15 at the parts thereof which are adjacentl to the member 1 are mounted at opposite ends of a sleeve member 19, which is mounted upon a vertical pivot 20. The rear ends of the members lt and 15 are pivotally connected .with a member 21, which has an upstanding pivot pin 22. The member 21I is mounted on the frame of the carriage 3 in a suitable member, which is indicated at 22, in such manner as to permit the swinging or reciprocating movement of the member 1, and at the same time provide for the attachment of the member 1 by means of the members 111 and 15.

The structure which has just been described, that is to say, the members 14 and 15 and the cooperating parts is duplicated at other places upon 'the member 1, so that the same is attached at least at two points by means of structures such as described.

lBy adjusting the relative lengths of the members 14 and' 15 it is possible to tilt or tip the bottom portion of the member 7.with respect to the horizontal, to any desired degree,

and when this is done it will be seen that the rear edge of the member'7 will, in the usual operation of the machine, ride upon the rails, while the forward or nose portion 8 of the screed, will be elevated to any desired degree. Therefore, when the screed is given its reciprocating movement and the carriage is moved forward upon the rails, the asphaltic material acted upon will be compressed beneath the lower surface of the screed member.

Preferably means are provided for heating the member 7 of the screed. While obviously any desired means for heat may be employed, in the. present instance there is indicated one form of such means consisting of a manifold main 23 which, by means of shorter pipes 24, is connected witlrburner sections 25 and 25a of which there area plurality, and the burners are arranged atl various portions of the member 7, and thev passage of gas to the various burners is controlled by means of suitable valves, such as indicated at 23", so that the How of gas to the various burners may be controlled, thereby to heat parts or portions of the member 7 as may be desired Additionally, it will be noted that the burners are provided with pipes which are located ad? jacent the forward as well'as the rear part of the member 7, thus effecting a distributed heat over those portions which are located adjacent to the burners.

The manifold 23 is connected with a suitable gas tank 26 by means of a pipe 26?, a portion of which pipe at least will be flexible o asZ to permit of reciprocation of the memer -V While as before stated, the heating arrangement for the member 7, which is herein shown, is only illustrative, it yet provides a heating means for the member 7 which is capable of supplying heat at the various portions of the member 7, to the degree that may be desired, and, as is frequently the case, more heat will be applied to the member 7 adjacent the ends thereof than will be required at the central portion, for the reason that a large body of hot asphalt is in contact with the central portions of the reciprocating member 7 and its coopertin part 5 during the operation of the mem er 7, which will in and of itself supply a certain amount of heat to the members 5 and 7, and furthermore, the portions of the asphaltic material towards the edges of the pavement will radiate more heat than those portions towards the center, and hence in finishing the p surface it will be necessary to heat the member 7 hotter at those portions thereof which are working upon the marginal portions of the pavement.

The member 7 may be reciprocated in any desired manner, and as showing one form of such device there is indicated the arm 27 connected with a suitable crank 28, which crank may be turned by any approved form of power mechanism. h

In order to elevate the member 7 from the tracks 2 and to hold it in elevated position where such is desired, there are provided chains 29 at opposite ends of the screed, which are suitably securedto a transverse shaft 30, which being turned by means of the gaver?v 31, will cause the chains to lift the memr1`he carriage upon which the member 7 and its associated parts are carried may be moved forward in any desired manner and preferably will be power operated.

In the operation of the machine it will be readily seen that as the member 7 is transversely reciprocated in contact with the asphaltic material and the carriage upon which it is mounted is simultaneously advanced, thev member 7 will effect a spreading of the asphaltic material which is in front of it and will additionally strike off the asphaltic material as the carriage advances, the forward edge or nose 8 of the member 7 serving not only as a cut-off, but in a measure to fluff the asphaltic tmaterial so that it is amenable to the proper action of the under surface of the member 7. The asphaltic material is wedged beneath the member 7, by the combined reciprocatory and lineal motion of the member 7 effecting a compressing and ironing action thereon. The rear edge 7a of the member 7 effects a final wiping of the surface of the 'asphaltic material, 'sealing the surface,'and

by the action of heat preventing any tearing effect of the asphalt due to the ironing action of the member 7.

The machine can Work upon the asphaltic material just as soon as the asphaltic material is dumped in front of-it and preliminarily spread, and thus can operate upon the asphaltic material While it is still in a highly heated condition. This has a decided advantage in the laying ofthe road, as asphaltic material is always easier to operate upon when in heated condition than when in a more or less cold condition.

As before stated the apparatus as described and employing the method heretofore described, makes it possible to not only lay better asphaltic pavement than has heretofore been laid, but also makes it possible to lay-the pavement more readily and With a great saving of labor.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is l. The method of laying bitumen pavement, Which comprises subjecting the material to the action of a compressing member which is positively heated in a controlled manner at the portion thereof in contact with the said material, and extends entirely across the pavement, and simultaneously reciprocating said member transversely 'of the pavement and moving it forwardly therealon 2.gThe method of laying bitumen pavement, which comprises simultaneously compressing and finishing the surface of the material by reciprocating transversely and entirely across the pavement a member having a bottom portion which is tilted with respect to the horizontal, and simultaneously moving such member forwardly as it is reciprocated, whereby a Wedgin g compressing action is obtained.

3. The method of laying bitumen pavement, which comprises subjecting the paving material to the compacting action of a member having a substantially flat, positively heated bottom surface and extending completely across the pavement, tilting the member so that the forward edge thereof is elevated, reciprocating said member transversely of the pavement and simultaneously moving the same forwardly therealong.

4. The method of laying bitumen pave` ment, which comprises reciprocating a positively heated compressing member over progressive areas extending completely across the pavement.-

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aiix my signature.

' JASPER' G. TULLIS. 

